13 Amazing Ways Elon Musk Has Impressed and Improved the World

Some people don't like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster.

Elon Musk is a gutsy inventor and entrepreneur whose ideas have resonated with more than just environmentalists. He was a multimillionaire before turning 30 and has since spearheaded futuristic engineering development companies like Tesla whose mission is to build the electric car. In his own words, he has inspired us to help make the world a better place.

At age 10, Musk taught himself how to program a computer and sold his first software at the age of 12.

The first step is to establish that something is possible; then probability will occur.

In 1989, Musk relocated from his homeland in South Africa, to attend Queen’s University in Canada. He was only 17. He would on to study both business and physics -- both of which would later prove to be areas of innovation.

I don't spend my time pontificating about high-concept things; I spend my time solving engineering and manufacturing problems.

Musk dropped out of a PhD program in energy physics at Stanford University to found his first start-up company called Zip2 Corp. The company provided online city guides. Within two years, he sold Zip2 to Compaq for $307 million.

I don't create companies for the sake of creating companies, but to get things done.

Considered by the world as a solid innovator and entrepreneur, Musk decided to reach for loftier goals. How lofty? All the way to the moon. In 2002, he founded Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX) to build spacecraft for commercial travel.

I always invest my own money in the companies that I create. I don't believe in the whole thing of just using other people's money. I don't think that's right. I'm not going to ask other people to invest in something if I'm not prepared to do so myself.

By 2008, Nasa had contracted SpaceX to build spacecraft to carry cargo to the International Space Station.

We could definitely make a flying car – but that's not the hard part ... The hard part is, how do you make a flying car that's super safe and quiet? Because if it's a howler, you're going to make people very unhappy.

Musk, understanding the environment impact of our reliance on fossil fuels, went on to found Tesla Motors to provide affordable electric cars to the masses. In 2013, Tesla’s Model S was awarded “Car Of The Year” by Motor Trend Magazine.

I'm interested in things that change the world or that affect the future and wondrous, new technology where you see it, and you're like, 'Wow, how did that even happen? How is that possible?'

SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 unmanned capsule into space in 2012 with 1,000 lbs of supplies for the astronauts at the International Space Station. This history-making mission marked the first time a private company had ever landed there.

People should pursue what they're passionate about. That will make them happier than pretty much anything else.

I think we have a duty to maintain the light of consciousness to make sure it continues into the future.

SpaceX again made history in 2013 when the Falcon 9 delivered a satellite to the geosynchronous transfer orbit (the sweet spot to lock onto the orbital path synched with Earth’s rotation), and in 2015 when the spacecraft carried a Deep Space Climate Observatory satellite to observe the sun’s effect on Earth’s power grids and communication systems.

Just this month, Musk purchased SolarCity Corp., bringing together Tesla’s storage and SolarCity’s harnessed energy to, according to their website, “create fully integrated residential, commercial and grid-scale products that improve the way that energy is generated, stored and consumed.”

I always have optimism, but I'm realistic. It was not with the expectation of great success that I started Tesla or SpaceX... It's just that I thought they were important enough to do anyway.

Musk’s intelligence, business savvy and ability to think WAY out-of-the-box will continue to shape our future. At a coding conference this past June, he hinted at what his next project may be. With so much talk about Artificial Intelligence, Musk is mulling ways to make humans and computers symbiotic by using “neural lace” -- a webbed cap that improves human intelligence.

Creating a neural lace is the thing that really matters for humanity to achieve symbiosis with machines.